BC Film and CG Industry

[NetMapel]

Since this is a huge part of our province's economy, I thought I would start a thread about this industry and hope everybody can chime in the future. You know, have one big thread that is more specifically about this industry.

So there are some good news lately. First up, Digital Domain from Venice, California have decided to open up a new studio here in Vancouver. This is a major visual effects studio and I believe this is their first expansion whom, like Pixar, decided to choose Vancouver for a variety of reasons ! Ok, I lied, they want to come here for our tax incentive, but they're coming !

From the Vancouver Sun: Digital Domain to open Vancouver visual effects studio

Digital Domain, the visual effects company behind Academy Award-winning films Titanic and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, will open a 20,000-square-foot studio in Vancouver in early 2010.

The company, based in Venice, California, will hire 50-60 digital artists, mostly Canadian, to get the operation running, with plans to staff the studio with 100 employees by the end of 2010.

First project slated for work in Vancouver is the locally shot Tron: Legacy, a Disney production.

The studio will come to Vancouver to take advantage of the British Columbia’s tax credits and to tap into the city’s world-renowned labour pool of digital artists.

“By expanding our talent and resources across multiple locations we are able to to offer solutions to production challenges, whether they’re economic, creative or technical,” said Digital Domain CEO Cliff Plumer.

Gloria Borders was named president of feature film operations Tuesday, and will oversee production both in Venice and in Vancouver.

Borders had previously worked for DreamWorks Animation, where she managed productions of Shrek the Third and Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa.

Digital Domain, established in 1993 and owned by Wyndcrest Holdings, has done digital effects for 70 feature films, including GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra, Transformers, X-Men, Fight Club, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring and Gran Torino.

Among the company’s credits are several films made in B.C., including Tron: Legacy, 2012, the new futuristic feature from director Roland Emmerich, I Robot and Lake Placid.

The company is also known for its effects-filled television commercials for Nike, Lexus, Disney, Honda Accord, Michelin and video game Gears of War.

Also, another recent news is a $10-million investment in an sound studio expansion by our local studio, Vancouver Film Studios. Despite the current economic recession, Vancouver's film and computer graphic industry are still growing, although being hurt by Ontario with their recent tax credit cut. The tone of this article suggests that the film association here will be making a decision about the future growth here within the month.

Studio makes $10-million sound stage investment

Although the provincial film and television industry has hit a trough, one major player is making a $10 million investment in the future.

Vancouver Film Studios, celebrating its 10th year in existence, plans to build a 36,000-square-foot sound stage at its East Vancouver location. The new sound stage will be built in the centre of the 11-stage lot, replacing a 6,700-square-foot sound stage and a parking area. Construction will begin in July, 2010 for an early 2011 opening.

The expansion comes at a time when British Columbia has lost productions to Ontario which, along with Quebec, increased its tax credits early this summer to woo American producers. Even local companies have moved some productions from B.C. to Ontario, where out-of-province producers now receive a 25-per-cent tax credit on all expenses, not just labour costs. The latest to move was TV series The Troop, made by Vancouver production house No Equal Entertainment.

"One thing we've learned about this business over 10 years is it is characterized by volatility," said Jason McLean, president and COO of The McLean Group of Companies, which owns and operates Vancouver Film Studios. McLean cites the Writers' Guild of America strike, currency fluctuations, jurisdiction competition, and changes in tax laws as examples of that volatility.

"We are optimistic about the future, and we feel that the [federal and provincial] governments understand this is a valuable industry in Canada, and in British Columbia," says McLean. "We're confident they will do what it takes to maintain its competitiveness."

Currently, the largest Vancouver Film Studios sound stage is 18,040 square feet. The new sound stage would accommodate the large-scale productions which have regularly come to the Vancouver area: the X-Men, Night at the Museum and Fantastic Four franchises, Watchmen, Farewell Atlantis, 2012, and The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus.

The new sound stage will still be smaller than the four at Mammoth Studios in Burnaby, which range from 36,487 to 123,993 square feet.

Pete Mitchell, executive vice president and COO of Vancouver Film Studios, says the trend is for studios to want to shoot more on sound stages than on location.

"If you look back at The X-Files, at the height [of the shooting] they used three stages, two 15s [15,000 square feet] and a 12 [12,000 square feet]," says Mitchell. "Today, a cable show like Eureka, which is nowhere near the scope of The X-Files, uses four stages, three 15s and a 12.

"It's cheaper to be on a stage than to be on location, and when you have a lot of visual effects you really want to control the environment," Mitchell says. "We see that as a trend continuing forward."

As for the migration of film work out of B.C., Mitchell says the big American studios are patiently tracking the tax credit situation in B.C., putting some locations in other jurisdictions but watching to see if B.C. will compete.

"Our customers are sitting on the sidelines right now waiting to see what happens," says Mitchell.

Meanwhile, film industry representatives continue to meet with the provincial government over the tax-credit issue.

"... we will be meeting with them in the next two weeks to discuss proposals for a long-term solution that works for both the industry and the province," said Peter Leitch, chair of the Motion Picture Production Industry Association of B.C., in an e-mail Friday.

Last but not least, Rainmaker, previously known as Mainframe, just released a new teaser for their upcoming Reboot movie :O
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zscrv7OJ3TU

[LotusLand]

Thanks for posting this and I agree this is long overdue. With all that going on we should have more on this stuff!

[NetMapel]

Yup, it's not a bad time to be in the Vancouver visual effects industry right now. Reading all the news, it seems like we might be the next hot spot after California and London.

[junius]

Our industry is getting killed right now. The high dollar is bad enough but the more aggressive tax regimes in Quebec and Ontario are taking away work that could come here.

It does put the government in a difficult spot. Increasing the tax credits to match these juridictions is just partcipating in a "race to the bottom" that they will all lose by pursuing these policies. On the other hand, we have built up incredible infrastructure and human resources in this business and it would be terrible to lose the investment.

[GeeCee]

Has Pixar opened its studio here yet?

[NetMapel]

Originally Posted by GeeCee

Has Pixar opened its studio here yet?

Pixar will probably come here sometime in 2010.

As for the film industry, it's true we are losing productions to other provinces because of their ridiculous tax incentive. However, we're doing very well with post-production that help add visual effects to many excellent films.

[junius]

Originally Posted by NetMapel

Pixar will probably come here sometime in 2010.

As for the film industry, it's true we are losing productions to other provinces because of their ridiculous tax incentive. However, we're doing very well with post-production that help add visual effects to many excellent films.

Not for long. The effects credits in Quebec and Ontario are killing us long term.

We have capable people and post houses. No question. However it is not going to be enough with so much downward pressure on production budgets for TV and Film.

[NetMapel]

There isn't any press release yet, but Sony Imageworks appears to be opening a studio in Yaletown this Spring They have been posting on job posting boards with positions in Vancouver lately. Will post the press release when it's available.

[mr.x]

More provincial film production tax credits!

http://www.vancouversun.com/travel/b...958/story.html

[NetMapel]

This is a polarizing issue because it's got some good and bad by raising our tax credits in this industry. I understand that, on the one hand, this is a race to the bottom and something must be done to address this. On the other hand, this also give us a lot of jobs that people need. However, I believe it's also worth pointing out that more productions here also mean more post-productions (Visual effects... etc). The reason being that directors and producers generally like being around for the post productions to make sure everything goes as they want. As such, there may be a multiplying factor in this, benefiting more people than just in the film productions and video game industries. There are pre-productions and post-productions that need to be considered for this as well.

In conclusion, this is a good day for the many film and art students here in Vancouver. VFS, Emily Car, Capilano, UBC... etc must be all celebrating

[SpongeG]

filmed here

• Video Link

• Video Link

[NetMapel]

Bad news today

Layoffs At Radical, Neversoft - Luxoflux Closes

February 11, 2010 - Activision has confirmed reports today development studios Radical Entertainment and Neversoft Entertainment will be affected by layoffs. The company also confirmed the closure of Luxoflux, who last developed Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.

Activision was not able to confirm the amount of employees let go. Unconfirmed reports say the headcount at Radical is being reduced by half, while Neversoft will see additional layoffs after Guitar Hero 6 ships later this year.

"Activision Publishing continually evaluates its resources to ensure that they are properly matched against its product slate and strategic goals, the company said in a statement given to IGN. "In 2010, the company's SKU count will be smaller than in 2009 driven in part, by a decrease in the number of music-based games we will be releasing."

"As we discussed on our earnings conference call yesterday, we are directing our resources against the largest and most profitable business segments, and as part of this initiative, we are realigning our resources to better reflect our slate and the market opportunities. At the same time, we are increasing our digital/online capabilities as we expect that digital/online will continue to become a more meaningful part of our business model in the years ahead."

We'll update this story as we hear more.

Radical Entertainment is in Vancouver and the rumour is that 90+ of its employees have been laid off now. Their previous game that was recently released was Prototype which sold more than 2 millions copies. It is sad to see that even with such a strong sale, Activision, the parent company, still decided to layoff these fine artists. The recent increase in BC provincial tax credit for videogame makers can't come quick enough !

[Zassk]

^ It sounds like a Spiderman project of theirs was cancelled, hence a team was let go.

[urbandreamer]

My friend that works in the biz tells me production is moving to low cost Asian countries like the Philippines, Thailand, India. Anyone else agree?

[NetMapel]

Electronic Arts video game deals good for all sides: EA hooks up with two Vancouver game development companies

VANCOUVER — Just as the best National Hockey League trades are those that benefit both teams, the best business deals help both parties.

That appears to be the case with a partnership to be announced today involving video game giant Electronic Arts (EA) and two small Vancouver game development companies, Hothead Games and Klei Entertainment.

EA, through its division EA Partners, gets new content that is markedly different from the franchise games that come out of its big studios, and Hothead and Klei get the marketing clout of EA to make their product known and available.

EA will market and distribute Hothead's Deathspank, an original adventure game, and do the same for Klei's Shank, an action game. Given the industry trend of modestly priced online games outperforming the more expensive and time-consuming console games, this makes a lot of sense for EA.

"We've been very good at providing products in the $60 range that take hours and hours to complete, and we're very good at the 99-cent iPhone games that provide moments of enjoyment. But we think there's a huge opportunity for this mid-session experience with high production values at an impulse-purchase price," said Jamil Moledina, outreach director for business development at EA Partners, the EA division that seeks independent developers to partner with.

"We love to be able to partner with great talent, especially in the digital distribution space," said Moledina. "This is something -- given that it's more impulse-purchase level cost and a lower budget from your typical $60 title -- [where] there's a greater freedom to innovate," said Moledina.

Ian Wilkinson, CEO of Hothead Games, said EA will provide his company with what it lacks. "We're very good at making games that titillate and excite and entertain people. What I'm not sure of is whether we know how to market them," said Wilkinson, whose four-year-old company has 40 employees.

Deathspank is the company's third video game.

"We are managing the multi-platform distribution, which is sometimes complicated to do if you're an independent developer," said Moledina.

Jamie Cheng, CEO of Klei Entertainment, said one of the biggest challenges faced by a small studio is to get word out that your company's game exists. Marketing costs money and takes time, two luxuries not afforded small companies.

"We get EA's marketing muscle," said Cheng, whose company of 15 employees is located in Yaletown. "We are able to put the games on the platforms, that's not the problem. The problem is actually letting people know about the game so they can download it and play it."

Both Deathspank and Shank will be distributed for Xbox LIVE Arcade, the digital distribution platform for the Microsoft Xbox 360, and for PlayStation Network, the digital side of the Sony PlayStation 3. Shank will also be available for PC gaming.

Klei Entertainment's Shank:
• Video Link

Hothaed Games' Deathspank:
• Video Link

I'm glad EA is stepping up here and those two games look very promising as well. Hopefully you guys look into buying those two games and support Vancouver developers !

[junius]

This industry will be moribund until the Canadian dollar drops down below 90 cents. If the dollar stays at par or goes above the US it will wither on the vine. It is going to be a long summer.

[SpongeG]

I was watching a report on CBC about the high dollar and how it isn't as bad as people keep saying - cause business in Canada adjusts really quickly to it and can still be competitive and come out and the high dollar hasn't been that bad

[Yume-sama]

It's not bad if you, yourself, are dealing in Canadian currency, and don't have hopes of marketing any part of anything to the USA, or selling it to them. Or getting American tourists.

Too bad about the whole being our #1 trade partner thing...

There is no longer an advantage for American companies or people to, say, make cars in Canada, film movies in Canada, visit Canada...

The dollar is almost unjustly inflated (though Canada is one of the few Countries who were relatively unscathed by the recession).

Maybe Obama will start fixing his economy now that the healthcare thing is pretty much over, and we will go back to our rightful place

I mean, the dollar really is only getting stronger against the USD (the one we'd rather not be strongest against).

Not so much against the Yen, Euro, or Pound. Not too long ago 1 CAD was 120JPY. Now it's 90...

It's probably time we stopped using the US Dollar as the currency benchmark, as people around the World are seriously considering doing.

[Metro-One]

Strange how other nations with high currencies have been able to have strong manufacturing businesses and economies throughout recent history *cough* Japan *cough* and even the US itself.

Maybe we should stop relying on foreign companies and become a little more inventive ourselves, and we should try and stop relying on cheap primary production exports...

Maybe if we had more decent home grown major companies....

I dont know, I always find it funny that other nations seem to survive with high currencies (the entire EU for example) but we cant.

[SpongeG]

the point of the story was we haven't loss much business and if anything its made Canadian business more effective and cost saving for themselves in the long run

tourists perhaps but from my perspective it never stopped me from going to seattle when the dollar was 65 cents